Posted on 12/04/2008 6:13:35 AM PST by Patrsup
When high school students in Grand Rapids Public Schools fail a class this fall, they won't get an "F" or an "E" -- they'll get an "H."
"An 'H' is a failing grade," district spokesman John Helmholdt told 24 Hour News 8. But that new failing grade comes with second chance -- students who get an "H" will be able to re-take the class or the part of it they failed the next semester.
(Excerpt) Read more at woodtv.com ...
“H” is the new “carbon credit”.
I’ve got no problem with it.
The goal is to educate them. All this does is have them retaught until they get the material or concept involved.
"I'm not at all against giving deserving people a second chance. People who continue to exhibit a propensity for failure are not, in my estimation, deserving. Therefore, allowing people to repeatedly retake a subject and perhaps, "learn the test" must be avoided.
"During my career, I have observed a number of people entering the labor market and being given a break because of ethnic or other considerations. Sadly, some of these people undeservedly migrate to supervisory or managerial positions and, having arrived there, create problems for the organization.
"Such a "second chance" effort should be undertaken with the utmost caution."
Maybe. I wonder if all students will have the opportunity to retake tests, etc., to improve their grades. If not, the system is unfair. If so, it will dramatically increase the teachers’ work load.
The problem with this whole thing lies with the insane requirements placed upon these kids in the first place!
I have been concerned since these new graduation requirements came out over year ago. They put in place a new graduation system that was far too restrictive. The issue I raised back then was this fact that kids would become discouraged and they would quit rather than face this new system. I was ridiculed for my thoughts. Now, I see I was not wrong.
These kids are from school districts that are already “at-risk” situations. They do not have the support systems at home or the incomes for stability. They cannot keep up with these new requirements, so they quit. The requirements should have been instituted at a slower pace.
The teachers do not have the skills to help these at-risk kids. They can argue all they want, but the current education system cannot help the kids because they are not skilled themselves.
Give this situation another year and you will see incredible drop-out rates in places like Detriot, Flint, Saginaw, Battle Creek and some Kalamazoo schools, as well as Grand Rapids and Muskegon. The inner city kids are the ones who are being hurt by all of this. I want kids to learn well, but if you do not put the proper support system in place first, then the rest means nothing.
When I was growing up in the Dark Ages we called that option “Summer School.” Seeing a big red “F” at the end of the school year you knew half of your summer was going to suck. Or you knew it was coming and did a slew of extra credit the last couple of weeks to at least get it to a D.
H = Do over.
My Mom taught summer school in a hot, humid, un-air conditioned school in south Georgia for years to keep the family income steady.
Her favorite saying about Summer School was, "It's not the heat. It's the stupidity."
I have no problem with forcing students to retake courses until they learn and pass them . . . but why change the ‘failing’ grade letter to an “H”?
Exactly. Take away the consequences for failure, or in this case, failure itself, and you sure aren’t doing these kids any favors. For a lot of kids, the incentive to do your schoolwork is not always dreams of success, but avoiding punishment or being a loser. It’s no longer a stigma to be a loser (it seems almost the norm), and the ass whoopings are long gone. Why should these kids care when there is no consequence, and now apparently there’s no such thing as failing.
LOL!
This is unreal. When I was in school there, a failing grade was an E. The only reason they are doing this is so athletes who are failing all their courses can continue to play sports. The GRPS has become an absolute disgrace.
H? We just called them “E’s” back when I was in school, but the effects were the same. Summer School or retakes. That’s why I avoided them. You had to work to get a E. I got mostly B’s by coasting.
Yeah, it was on the front page yesterday.
I wonder what happened to “I” (incomplete)?
The teacher’s union sez it’s going to wind up lowering student performance because they figure, I’ll make it up later.
A college prof I know sez, oh no, now these kids are going to expect his college to give “H”s.
Which means, of course, that he expects these failures in high school somehow to make it to college.
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Oy freakin' vey!
Why is an “H” any different than a “D” or an “F”? I don’t understand the idea behind this.
Why can’t we simply teach children without putting so much time, money and effort into these “programs”?
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